Groups pour thousands into new 8th District ads

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats are up with nearly $600,000 in new advertising in the 8th District congressional race this week.

The race, between Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack and DFL challenger Rick Nolan, is expected to be the most competitive in the state, and it’s garnering easily the most advertising attention at this point. Campaigns and outside groups launched their first round of ads a few weeks ago, and many are out with fresh spots this week.

Here they are, starting with a new Cravaack campaign ad:

The campaign said the ads will run for a week in Duluth. It’s part of a “significant five figure” buy.

The Nolan campaign pushed back against the ad on Tuesday, saying the contention that Nolan backs $700 billion in Medicare cuts (by way of his support for the Affordable Care Act) is a “lie.”

“The $700 billion in Medicare ‘cuts’ Cravaack mentions in this latest ad do not cut benefits and will not reduce care for seniors at all,” campaign manager Michael Misterek said in a statement. “In fact, Cravaack voted for the same amount of cuts twice as part of the [Rep. Paul] Ryan budget, and went a step further by voting to turn Medicare into a voucher system for the private insurance companies.”

House Majority PAC, a liberal independent expenditure group, and the Service Employees International Union teamed up on a $240,000 buy in the Twin Cities that focuses on Cravaack’s support for the House GOP budget plan and a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The ad is the House Majority PAC’s second.

Former Sen. Norm Coleman’s American Action Network spent $110,000 on a disco-themed ad focusing on Nolan’s time in Congress (during the late 1970s, when “disco was king and Rick Nolan was in Congress"). The ad, announced on Friday, will run on in the Duluth market:

And finally, the National Republican Congressional Committee released three ads against Nolan this week — a $213,000 TV spot hitting him for voting to raise congressional pay, and two radio ads, focusing on gun rights (the NRA endorsed Cravaack on Monday) and mining jobs. The spots are worth $6,200 total, and will air in Duluth.